November 2025

Sermon for the Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost – Farewell to Volmoed

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Scripture Readings

In September 2019, a community of three monks from the Order of the Holy Cross arrived at a place of considerable beauty and warm welcome and gracious hospitality called Volmoed, near Hermanus. They established a prayerful presence and welcomed new vocations to their way of life. In November 2025, a community of five Holy Cross monks will be leaving Volmoed to establish a new home for themselves in Harkerville, near Plettenberg Bay.

In between the arrival and the departure of the monks, quite a lot has happened, much of it joyful, some of it challenging. A number of people seem to have come to appreciate the presence of the monks at Volmoed, and to be disappointed that they are leaving. The monks themselves are moving on with mixed emotions, very aware of what and who will be left behind, grateful for all they have received and for the relationships they have formed, while anticipating what they are moving towards with hope.

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Sermon for the Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost – Farewell to Volmoed Read More »

Sermon for the Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost by Br Mpumelelo

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Scripture Readings

Let us pray: Show us Your ways, O LORD; teach us Your paths. Lead us in Your truth and teach us, for You are the GOD of our salvation; on You we wait all the day. Amen.

WE ARE CHILDREN OF THE RESURRECTION.

JESUS’ teachings led to conflict between Him and Israel’s religious leaders. If you start reading this Gospel from verse one, you will see that JESUS showed how they weren’t leading GOD’s people well or wisely. This made the leaders angry. They looked for ways to have Him killed. They tried to trap Him into saying something against the Roman government. But His answers were so wise that they couldn’t have Him arrested. Then the leaders tried to trap him also into saying something against the Law of Moses.

The Sadducees were the group of Jewish religious leaders with the most authority in Jerusalem. They were in charge of the Temple and worked closely with the Roman rulers. They didn’t believe in angels or that GOD raised people from the dead. They didn’t believe that JESUS was the MESSIAH GOD had promised to send. Most Sadducees opposed JESUS and his teachings. So at this point they asked a difficult question about when people rise from the dead, even though they didn’t believe in the Resurrection, but just to trap JESUS! So they tell a story about seven brothers marrying the same woman in succession, and JESUS clarifying that, in the Resurrection, there is no marriage because people are like angels and can no longer die. Which means people who believe and trust GOD will have a new kind of life. It will be completely different from this world.

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Sermon for the Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost by Br MpumeleloRead More »

Sermon for the Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost by Br Mpumelelo Read More »

October 2025 News

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There have continued to be delays in the legal process of transferring the property in Harkerville outside Plettenberg Bay that we are in the process of acquiring. A positive aspect of this is that it has given those whose lives are closely linked with ours more time to adjust to the impending reality of our departure from Volmoed. It has also provided more opportunity for us to engage with Volmoed leadership concerning practical aspects of our ongoing relationship with Volmoed.

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October 2025 NewsRead More »

October 2025 News Read More »

Sunday 2 November 2025 – Pentecost XXI – Sermon by Br Josias

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Scripture Readings

In the name of God, the Creator, the Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen!

Does the work of a person define their humanity? Can a person be moral without being religious? To what extent should we love those who do us wrong?

For every ‘bad’ person that exists, there is an element of goodness in them; even though it is difficult at times to access that goodness. Indeed, it is difficult to see the God in the other, when our hearts and minds are polluted with what they have done or the company that they keep. As Mark Anthony in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar said: “The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.”[1] Sometimes people do bad things to us or associate with bad people, such that even when they do good we do not recognise it.

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Sunday 2 November 2025 – Pentecost XXI – Sermon by Br JosiasRead More »

Sunday 2 November 2025 – Pentecost XXI – Sermon by Br Josias Read More »

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